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Registration Label, Perth GPO (with D27-c type postmark), 1938

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About this object

Registration label from Perth GPO, blue, rectangular, dated 30 October 1938. 

Envelope is addressed to 'Miss Philippa Curran/"La Casita"/57 Leura St/Nedlands/Western Australia.' 

Also attached: King George VI 1s 4d Magenta; Kangaroo ½d Yellow Orange postage stamp(s); Black ink postmark from Registered Perth (D27-c type).

Object details
Museum accession number
H2020.2321
Type
Registration label
Label Date
30/10/1938
Label Place
Perth GPO
Addressed to
Miss Philippa Curran/"La Casita"/57 Leura St/Nedlands/Western Australia
Style
print letters
Shape
rectangular
Colour
blue
More object details
REGISTRATION LABEL
Label number
2366.0
COVER
Cover media
First Day Cover
MARKS & STAMPS
Postmark type
D27-c
Postage stamp type
King George VI 1s 4d Magenta
Other postage stamp types
Kangaroo ½d Yellow Orange
FRONT MARKS
Postmark cancellation
Registered Perth
Other marks on front

blue sticker 'BY AIR MAIL/PAR AVION'; manuscript 'FIRST DAY COVER'

REVERSE MARKS
Postal markings on reverse
REGISTERED PERTH
NEDLANDS
Other marks on reverse

-

The Curran Telegram

‘Dear Pip’, a father’s un-received telegram, 1938

In 1938, this telegram was addressed to eight-year-old Philippa ‘Pippa’ Frances Curran at her home in Nedlands. The partially opened envelope hints at an interrupted delivery. Inside, a small pink ‘urgent rate’ telegram held a simple yet profound message:

Dear Pippa, I love you for ever and ever,

your loving father, Frank Curran

A telegram
The telegram’s envelope was still partly closed when it was discovered.
Credit: Image taken by WA Museum, 2023
colourised photo of girl on toy horse
Pippa Curran, c.1938. Credit: Image courtesy of Pippa’s descendants
colourised photo of girl and bay on toy horse. A man is standing behind them.
Pippa Curran with her father Frank, and her younger brother, c.1938. Credit: Image courtesy of Pippa’s descendants

A veteran of both World Wars, Frank Curran enlisted in 1916 at the age of twenty-nine. He met his future wife Doris in England while stationed there, and their long-distance courtship spanned nearly a decade before she relocated to Western Australia in 1928.

black and white portrait of man wearing coat and cap
Frank Curran portrait, 1917. Credit: Image courtesy of Pippa’s descendants

In 1940, almost precisely two years after sending this telegram, Frank re-enlisted. As part of the Army Reserve for Home Defence, his company manned fixed defences and vulnerable points of the Western Australian coastline.

Frank’s grandson Andrew Carter OAM founded the Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt movement in 1988, inspired by the American quilt during a visit to the USA. While most blocks from Andrew’s quilt are housed in Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum, two Western Australian quilt blocks are held by the WA Museum. Stories from the Western Australian quilt are proudly displayed in the Wall of Love and Loss in the Reflections gallery of WA Museum Boola Bardip.

moustached man wearing a white t-shirt and hat
Pippa’s son Andrew Carter received the Medal of the Order of Australia on June 10th, 1991. He died ten days later. Credit: Image courtesy of Pippa’s descendants
Additional reading
  • New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt Project, (1992-2024), ‘Andrew Carter. 5 July 1954 – 20 June 1991’, New Zealand AIDS Memorial Quilt & Burnett Foundation Aotearoa, < https://aidsquilt.org.nz/andrew-carter >, accessed May 2024
  • Museum of Applies Arts and Sciences Sydney, (2011), ‘Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt in memory of Andrew Carter’, Powerhouse Collections – Sydney, < https://collection.powerhouse.com.au/object/384547 >, accessed January 2024
Citations and licences
Cite this page
Western Australian Museum 2025, Registration Label, Perth GPO (with D27-c type postmark), 1938, accessed 13 May 2025, <https://collections.museum.wa.gov.au/collection/hanekamp-postal-collection/object/1535>.
Text licence
Text content on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Image licence
Unless stated otherwise, images on this page are copyright © Western Australian Museum, 2025
Questions or feedback
Enquire about image reuse
If the email links above do not work, please email your feedback/enquiries to reception@museum.wa.gov.au using the subject https://collections.museum.wa.gov.au/collection/hanekamp-postal-collection/object/1535

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Hanekamp Postal Collection

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